The Arena is a sub-game similar in concept to the Boss Endurance sub-games from previous games in the Kirby series, but vastly updated. It is generally viewed as one of the hardest sub-games, if not the hardest sub-game, in each game it appears in.

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In Games

Before Kirby can fight any enemies, he will be in a room where he can choose a copy ability from a Copy Essence with two elevators for quick travel. Kirby is allowed to take a Helper in at will, though the player should note that the presence of a Helper on-screen gives the boss more health. It should also be noted that Kracko Jr. is the only boss not to appear in The Arena. There is also a Warpstar in that very room. When Kirby hops on it, he will go to fight any of the following enemies in random order:

In between enemy fights, Kirby will be taken to a rest area where he can access two randomly-generated Copy Essences, along with a limited number of Maxim Tomatoes (starts with five Maxim Tomatoes) that will not respawn (or be replaced) after being eaten. If the player beats this sub-game, he/she will be rewarded with the game's Sound Test feature.

This game features The Arena from Kirby Super Star with one small change: If Kirby picks a Maxim Tomato in the room between fights, a regular tomato (which restores less health and will not respawn or be replaced) will replace it the next time he visits this room. Additionally, the Arena Waddle Dee is replaced with Bandana Waddle Dee, who behaves the same way.

This variant is almost identical to Kirby Super Star's The Arena, but in addition to the four Maxim Tomatoes, there is an extra one inside a box. Up to four players can play this sub-game. After Kirby beats The Arena himself, the player unlocks Meta Knight, Bandana Waddle Dee, and King Dedede to play as -- this means the player can play the sub-game without Kirby being present at all.

This variant is nearly identical to Kirby's Return to Dream Land's The Arena, with a few changes: The room with every Copy Essence stretches horizontally rather than vertically, with two Tilt Gondolas for quick travel instead of two ladders. The rest area is now on two planes; the foreground contains two Copy Essences, and the background contains food items and the door. Kirby can travel between the two planes with a 3D Warpstar. One of the five Maxim Tomatoes is contained inside an Assist Star. Once in a while, treasure chests that contain keychains will appear at the foreground.

Trivia

The Arena is somewhat similar to All-Star mode in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, where the player has to fight every character using limited resources. Super Smash Bros. Brawl also introduced a Boss Battles mode, which is even more similar to The Arena than All-Star mode is, featuring the bosses of Adventure and Classic Modes fought randomly until the final boss of Adventure Mode is fought last. Seeing as how HAL Laboratory also made the Super Smash Bros. games, it is possible that these two modes were based on The Arena.

Kirby: Triple Deluxe's The Arena is the only version of the sub-game that does not support multiplayer.

The title screen theme and the boss battle themes in Kirby: Triple Deluxe are remixes from Kirby Super Star and Kirby Super Star Ultra.

Kirby & The Amazing Mirror's Boss Endurance sub-game is greatly inspired by The Arena. Unlike other versions of Boss Endurance, this one allows Kirby to choose a Copy Ability at the beginning, recover HP with Maxim Tomatoes, learn which opponent is next before battle, fight groups of mid-bosses, and summon CPU help.